The Strength of Humanity (A Naruto Fan Fiction)

Chapter Two ~ Imprisonment

The sound of footsteps caused immediate alarm, forcing my body out of resting mode. My head snapped up from my sitting position on the ground, and I narrowed my eyes at the only entrance to the room, making a quick grab for the kunai that were no longer hidden, scattered over my body.

"How is she?" Tsunade asked.  My trained ears picked up on two pairs of shuffling feet that follow behind the Hokage.

Kakashi sighed, tired from his overnight shift. A black circle rimmed his eye. "No change, she sits there, in the same still position, awake and alert. Barely gets any rest." Worry laced his formal tone mildly. "Convinced that another assassin will end her."

There was a sudden, audible intake of breath, and a choked noise. I registered and analyzed where the sound is coming from.

It was a man. Intimidating. Interrogator-type. Long black coat, head cap.

Ah. Ibiki Morino. We only knew of him to know his torture methods. He preferred to break you without touching you. I do not flinch. Nothing... Nothing could ever compare to the pain They put me through.

And that was the point.

"How... How is this possible Kakashi?" The man asked in a deep, startled voice.

He brought his fist down loudly on the cell, and looked at me, a million different emotions swimming deeply through his eyes.

I didn't flinch this time.

Within the 22 hours and 42 minutes, I had taken the time to remember who I was; The Claw of the Phoenix. I am a tool. I feel no fear, no happiness, no sadness. I feel nothing. I am nothing.

Therefore the loud noise, the cause of shocking vibrations through the cage, did not scare me this time. I stare up at the man with emotionless eyes, saying nothing. There was nothing to say. I would die soon.

The man looked me in the eyes and I met his gaze steadily, assessing him. "You're dead."

The statement did nothing to shake me, to scare me. I was well aware of the fact by now. In the end, what did it matter if I died by Ibiki's hand or by the coming Claw's?

"No, no, Cashile," Kakashi hurried to reassure me, "He didn't mean it as a threat. Ibiki wasn't saying that he was going to kill you. It's just, we believed you were dead."

I switched my empty gaze back to Kakashi. "I am nothing but a tool. In the end, it does not matter if you take my life, or if They do. I will die."

"What is this?" Ibiki growled furiously, obviously getting over his shock. "Did she play us? Because everyone thought she was dead, but here she is, not dead. Did she fake her death? Did she fake it all?"

The intensity of his anger ripped through the air. He was mad at me?

Of course he was mad at me, I was trying to assassinate his fellow ninja.

But.. I faked my own death? Why would I do that? I was, after all, only a tool. Why would I need to do that, being the Claw as far as I can remember? 

Perhaps.. In order to achieve perfection in being the perfect tool,  I had to fake my own death.

That made sense.